Feast day: 22 June
Saint John Fisher
Bishop of Rochester, Chancellor of Cambridge and the only English bishop to refuse Henry VIII's supremacy, beheaded weeks after being made cardinal.
- Born
- About 1469, Beverley, Yorkshire (England)
- Died
- 22 June 1535, Tower Hill, London (England)
- Canonization
- Beatified 1886 by Leo XIII; canonized 19 May 1935 by Pope Pius XI.
- Country
- England
Biography
Scholar and bishop
A Cambridge theologian, Fisher was confessor to Lady Margaret Beaufort, with whose help he founded Christ's and Saint John's Colleges and brought Erasmus to teach Greek. Made bishop of the poor see of Rochester in 1504, he refused richer dioceses and visited his parishes personally.
Defender of the marriage of Catherine
He wrote against Luther and, at the legatine court of 1529, publicly defended the validity of Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, saying he was ready to die for it as John the Baptist died for marriage.
Cardinal and martyr
Imprisoned in 1534 for refusing the oath of succession, he was created cardinal by Paul III in May 1535 — Henry swore the hat would find no head to wear it. Fisher was beheaded on 22 June 1535, emaciated and barely able to walk, having read the Gospel words 'This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God'.
Timeline
- ~1469 — Born at Beverley, Yorkshire
- 1504 — Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of Cambridge
- 1529 — Defends Queen Catherine's marriage
- 1534 — Imprisoned in the Tower
- 1535 — Made cardinal in May; beheaded 22 June
- 1935 — Canonized by Pius XI
Dates marked ~ are traditional or debated among historians.
Symbols
Cardinal's hat — The dignity he never wore, granted as he awaited death.
Book and crozier — Scholar and shepherd.
Virtues & spiritual lessons
Austerity of life, learning at the service of the faith, and episcopal courage when every colleague yielded.
Importance in the Church
The only bishop of his kingdom to resist the royal supremacy, a permanent example of pastoral integrity, honoured together with Thomas More.
Quotes
“This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
John 17:3, read by Fisher on the scaffold, 22 June 1535
Writings
Assertionis Lutheranae confutatio (1523) — His major theological refutation of Luther.
Prayers
Prayer to Saint John Fisher
Saint John Fisher, faithful shepherd who stood alone, obtain for the bishops and teachers of the Church courage to preach the truth whatever it costs, and for us the grace to prefer God's law to human favour. Amen.
Devotional prayer from English Catholic tradition.
Places
Rochester Cathedral, Kent — His cathedral for thirty years.
Church of Saint Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London — Where his body was buried.
Entries are drawn from the Roman Martyrology, the General Roman Calendar, canonization records of the Holy See, and the saints' own writings. Where a date, quotation or attribution is uncertain, it is marked as such. (63 saints)